1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to networked computer systems. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for translating and automating the transfer of files between client and server computer systems via network communications.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Computer systems are commonly connected to other computer systems for sharing computer resources and transferring data files. As one example, in the banking industry, bank account information in the form of data files is transferred in both directions between a client computer and a bank computer. The client computer can be a computer system used by the client of a bank such as a business that maintains a corporate bank account with the bank. The bank computer can be a computer system used by a financial institution, for example, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America or Union Bank of California, to name just a few, in managing the various bank accounts maintained by the bank. For example, current account balance is often transferred from the bank computer to the client computer, and information on checks that have been written can be transferred from the client computer to the bank computer.
In the banking industry, the transfer of files between client and bank computers is commonly accomplished via a direct connection. Typically, the direct connection consists of a modem connected to the client computer transferring data over a telephone line to a modem connected to the bank computer. A modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over, for example, telephone or cable lines, by translating digital computer data into corresponding analog signals, and vice versa. One favorable feature of transferring data via modems is that the data is secure as the connection is generally private. However, transferring data via modem is also very time consuming and expensive, for both the banks and the clients.
Many banks utilize web servers for managing client accounts through the banks' websites via the Internet. One benefit of the Internet is that access to it is readily available. However, the Internet is a public network, so clients and banks have concerns about the security of sensitive account data transferred over the Internet. Internet data can be encrypted, but doing so causes a significant burden on the banks to enable the encryption on the bank side of the connection as well as at each of the potentially large number of computers of clients that have accounts with the bank. The transfer of files and other data to and from current bank websites is not automated, thereby causing clients to resist or altogether refuse the transfer of data to and from the bank websites via the Internet because of the time, expense and inherent human errors in manually-initiated file transfers.
Thus, what is needed is a secure, automated way of transferring files between a client computer and a server computer via a public network that reduces the chances of human error and is more efficient. By being more efficient and with fewer human errors, the automated transfer of files is less expensive and more reliable than transferring files by manually-initiated operations.